electric honey

books i read in 2009 (stars for true loves, reviews on my goodreads page):

1. the cardboard universe by christopher miller
2. twilight by stephenie meyer
3. the moonflower vine by jetta carleton**
4. the likeness by tana french**
5. new moon by stephenie meyer
6. family planning by karan mahajan
7. behind the scenes at the museum by kate atkinson**
8. the descendants by kaui hart hemmings
9. eclipse by stephenie meyer
10. human croquet by kate atkinson**
11. the avengers by rich cohen
12. nick & norah's infinite playlist by david levithan and rachel cohn
13. you remind me of me by dan chaon
14. the enthusiast by charlie haas
15. an abundance of katherines by john green
16. mine all mine by adam davies
17. a carnivore's inquiry by sabina murray
18. emotionally weird by kate atkinson**
19. foreskin's lament by shalom auslander
20. the sexual outlaw by john rechy
21. moments of clarity by christopher lawford
22. girlbomb by janice erlbaum
23. then we came to the end by joshua ferris
24. are you there god, it's me kevin by kevin keck
25. speak softly, she can hear by pam lewis
26. love begins in winter by simon van booy
27. the good parents by joan london
28. the lie by chad kultgen**
29. slanted and enchanted by kaya oakes
30. revolutionary road by richard yates
31. love in the asylum by lisa carey**
32. the addict by michael stein
33. sleep toward heaven by amanda eyre ward
34. not the end of the world by kate atkinson**
35. double fault by lionel shriver**
36. entering hades by john leake
37. the beet queen by louise erdrich
38. breaking dawn by stephenie meyer
39. sweetheart by chelsea cain**
40. unchosen by hella winston
41. mrs. kimble by jennifer haigh**
42. wait until twilight by sang pak
43. speak by laurie halse anderson
44. shelf discovery by lizzie skurnick**
45. lush life by richard price**
46. in n out burger by stacy perman
47. a common pornography by kevin sampsell**
48. genetic rounds by robert marion
49. i don't care about your band by julie klausner**
50. postcards from a dead girl by kirk farber
51. if you follow me by malena watrous**
52. more of this world or maybe another by barb johnson**
53. everything is wrong with me by jason mulgrew**
54. black water rising by attica locke
55. the dolphin people by torsten krol**
56. everything here is the best thing ever by justin taylor
57. a ring of endless light by madeline l engle**
58. the queen of palmyra by minrose gwin
59. in a perfect world by laura kasischke**
60. garbage land by elizabeth royte
61. 86'd by dan fante
62. lean on pete by willy vlautin
63. in the sanctuary of outcasts by neil white
64. the bird room by chris killen
65. newspaper blackout by austin kleon
66. lake overturn by vestal mcintyre**

here are all the movies i saw in 2009, not in order. i saw 41 this year, down from 50 last year--i blame the fact that my life radically changed in the past two months:

the unborn (movie #1 that had nazis)
my bloody valentine 3D (just as crappy as the original)
donkey punch (lesson learned: don't let a dude punch you in the neck during sex.)
the uninvited (i still think emily browning should have been in twilight.)
he's just not that into you (maybe the worst movie i saw all year.)
friday the 13th (the original is one of my favorite horror movies. not this one. first movie of the year to feature a veronica mars alum)
fired up (cheerleading movies are awesome)
last house on the left (again, the original is one of my favorite horror movies. this one wasn't bad, but the best thing was the trailer set to the cover of sweet child of mine.)
sunshine cleaning (not as good as everyone said it would be, but maybe that's because it was in florida and i walked five miles to the movie theater.)
i love you, man (pretty good)
the haunting in connecticut (second movie of the year to feature a v mars alum. also, not good.)
adventureland (maybe my favorite of the year.)
observe and report (not offensive, just not funny.)
state of play (i'm still sad that this one didn't get more attention.)
star trek (out of all the star trek movies my dad has forced me to see over the years, this was the only one i didn't hate.)
dance flick (no, this was definitely the worst movie i saw all year.)
drag me to hell (at times too gross for me, and not kind enough to kittens, but i liked it)
the hangover (as good as everyone says)
away we go (i liked it)
dead snow (second movie of the year to feature nazis)
whatever works (painful. just painful.)
public enemies (eh)
bruno (also painful)
500 days of summer (i will go see joseph gordon-levitt in anything because he is my celebrity boyfriend, but this was not my favorite of his. still good though.)
g-force (you know, for a movie about guinea pigs that are secret agents, it was pretty good. better than A LOT of what i saw this year)
adam (loved)
funny people (disappointing)
paper heart (surprisingly nice)
district 9 (it's always nice to see an interesting horror movie. but i wasn't in love with it.)
inglourious basterds (one of the best. third movie of the year to feature nazis.)
the final destination (final destination 3 is actually a pretty good movie. this was not.)
extract (funny, but not that funny.)
jennifer's body (HUGELY underrated. third movie of the year to feature v mars alums.)
paranormal activity (this movie is only scary if you don't normally watch horror movies.)
whip it (loved it)
zombieland (loved it)
where the wild things are (seemed a lot longer than it was.)
saw vi (they keep making them, i keep seeing them. maybe not after this one though. i still believe that the original and the second one are good movies though)
fantastic mr fox (i liked it more than i was expecting to. also i want mrs fox's dress. also notable for being the first movie i saw with tom.)
new moon (exactly what i expected.)
brothers (the most harrowing movie of the year.)

so as you all know i'm constantly trying to make myself more visible at work, and so is mark. so we made this video together for one of our books, dennis cooper's ugly man. it's pretty funny if i do say so myself, and we worked really really hard on it. and if we get a ton of hits, it would be really really good for us. most of the work videos on the imprint's youtube site get less than 1,000 hits, so the bar isn't set that high, but if we got a ton it would really blow people away. so please watch it and forward it to anyone you think might like it!

i was not laid off this morning. neither were mark, raina, or angie. lots of other people were, though, and lots in my department. there is a lot of reorganization and it's all very surreal.

it's taking a backseat, however, to the fact that my dad is in the hospital with pneumonia. apparently he went to the doctor yesterday because he was having trouble breathing, they sent him home with meds, he still couldn't breathe, so they told him to call 911. they got to the ER around midnight last night and they just now admitted him and gave him a bed at 3 pm. my mom went home to go to sleep and i'm going for the 8:00-8:30 visiting hours. no one's told my sister yet because she had a big test today, but i made my mom text her to call when her test is over.

weirdly, my first thought was to go to the mcdonald's near the hospital (where nicole and i used to go all the time) for dinner. even after having it only twice since april 30, 2007, i'm glad my brain still runs to mcdonald's in times of parent-related stress.

for a work thing, i have to write about "the class that changed my life." the problem is that, being in publishing, we're supposed to include books that played a part in that. but the classes that changed my life were writing classes and women in television, which were not book-heavy. so i was going through my livejournal from junior and senior year of college to see if i mentioned any other classes or books. i didn't really, but i wrote A LOT about boys. my life used to be so boy-centric.

i am aware that that is not news to anyone who knew me then.

juliet's grandpa called, and i handed her the phone. he must have asked her something, and she responded with: "oh, that's my erica."

ten minutes after her parents called to say good night and mentioned they were at the ballet:

juliet: where are my mommy and daddy?
me: at the ballet, remember?
her: no they're not.
me: oh, really? where are they?
her: sesame street.

i used to do those year in review surveys but i think i prefer this:

(new) good things that happened in 2008:
1. I WROTE A NOVEL. this was not only a new year's resolution but also a lifelong goal and maybe the most important thing i have accomplished for myself ever. it isn't published yet or anything, but people have read it and said they liked it and more importantly i now know i am capable of it.
2. i traveled to a new state: north carolina (to visit lara).
3. two couples i care about/think are perfect for each other (ann marie and bob and dora and norman) got married.
4. i proved that i could get a new job if i wanted to but made a conscious decision to stay in publishing.
5. went snow tubing for the first time
6. got into some new foods: blueberries, ground turkey instead of ground beef, mac and cheese, squash, maybe even a few others i can't remember
7. continued on 2+ years of working out 3x a week
8. grew closer to people like ari (the gf of one of jon's best friends) and mark (my work bff)
9. started world wide whiskers (now up to 1000ish hits a month)
10. my dad and i settled some issues that had been plaguing us for a LONG time and our relationship immediately got immensely, immensely better

bad things in 2008:
1. not working with heather anymore (this is good for heather's career though, i just missed seeing her every day and still do)
2. got rejected by three agents
3. weddings, while fun, were expensive and stressful at times
4. i grew to hate certain aspects of my job but the economy means i most likely have to stay put
5. i missed people who moved away
6. i was hard on myself in a lot of ways

so all in all, the good FAR outweighs the bad. and here are my resolutions:
1. get agent and get novel published (sort of out of my hands, but i can work towards it)
2. write new novel (started)
3. grow world wide whiskers (again, sort of out of my hands but i can work towards it)
4. be nicer to myself
5. be nicer to jon
6. go to disney world, chicago, and maybe another location TBA

I'm not sure if this is a 100% complete list, because there might be a gap between when I stopped doing monthly media updates and when I started using goodreads. Oh well.

1. game control by lionel shriver - the weakest of all her books
2. mcilhenny's gold: how a lousiana family built the tabasco empire by jeffrey rothfeder - interesting but didn't need to read an entire book on the subject
3. chain letter by christopher pike - early cp is not the best
4. chain letter 2: the ancient evil by christopher pike - ditto, but it has a formaldehyde massage that heather remembered for many years
5. last act by christopher pike - the first good cp book
6. chalked up: inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams by jennifer sey - interesting if you like gymnastics but needed more dirt
7. spellbound by christopher pike - rereading it made me realize CP books can be kinda racist.
8. the ruins by scott smith - LOVE. a favorite.
9. final friends 1: the party by christopher pike
10. final friends 2: the dance by christopher pike
11. final friends 3: the graduation by christopher pike - all three of these sucked and kept me from reading any more CP books this year
12. starter for ten by david nicholls - not as good as the movie, which is a favorite, but good.
13. have you found her: a memoir by janice erlbaum - gripping and believable
14. enemy women by paulette jiles - i really liked her depression-era historical fiction but should have known that civil war era stuff was not for me.
15. we disappear by scott heim - not as good as mysterious skin but still pretty good.
16. futureproof by n. frank daniels - notable because the main character is a drug addict but i still sympathized with him.
17. not remotely controlled: notes on television by lee siegel - a little too academic but good.
18. (Not That You Asked): Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions by steve almond - i love his essays.
19. the ruins of california by martha sherrill - decent coming of age but not a favorite.
20. the story of edgar sawtelle by david wroblewski - too long but good.
21. i was told there'd be cake by sloane crosley - everything i hate about essays and boring people who think they're quirky.
22. All for a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora by david rensin - miki dora was maybe a nazi and kind of a jerk, so while it was decently written i didn't enjoy it.
23. promise not to tell by jennifer mcmahon - a thriller in disguise that i read in a day.
24. brooklyn was mine by valerie steiker - essay collection with some writers i already knew i liked, decent but not earth-shattering.
25. Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB and UPN by susanne daniels - interesting to someone obsessed with tv
26. the plague of doves by louise erdrich - not bad but not her best
27. world war z: an oral history of the zombie war by max brooks - i didn't think i'd like this but it was funny.
28. one good turn by kate atkinson - literary thriller, which is totally my second favorite genre. loved it.
29. the summer of naked swim parties by jessica anya blau - decent 70s coming of age novel
30. The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by marilyn johnson - kind of like Stiff but better.
31. In the Woods by Tana French - the ultimate literary thriller, maybe my favorite books this year, god i love this book SO MUCH
32. But Enough About Me: How a Small-Town Girl Went from Shag Carpet to the Red Carpet by Jancee Dunn - a good beach read (i really did read it at the beach one day)
33. Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Twelve Self-Help Programs, One Whirlwind Year of Improvement by beth lisick - normally i hate books where someone does something just for the sake of writing about it but beth lisick is awesome
34. freakonomics by steven levitt and stephen dubner - okay but not as good as i thought it would be
35. Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Triumphing over Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall - interesting if you are at all interested in polygamous sects and decently written
36. Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by robert sullivan - less interesting than i thought it would be
37. The Book of Lists: Horror by amy wallace - loved it. good if you like horror at all.
38. under the banner of heaven by jon krakauer - again, good if you want to know about polygamous sects and mormonism and crazy utah shit
39. the painted drum by louise erdrich - better than plague of doves but still not the best
40. Femme Fatale: Love, Lies, and the Unknown Life of Mata Hari by pat shipman - mata hari's life was not as interesting as everyone makes it out to be
41. heartsick by chelsea cain - way less literary than other literaryish thrillers i read this year, but i still liked it a lot.
42. state by state: a panoramic portrait of america by matt weiland - good but so so long.
43. who by fire by diana spechler - ehh
44. being written by william conescu - okay, kinda thrillery at the end which i liked
45. the condition by jennifer haigh - good family saga, recommended if you liked the corrections
46. tunneling to the center of the earth: stories by kevin wilson - loved. maybe the second favorite this year.
47. walk on water: the miracle of saving children's lives by michael ruhlmann - interesting to know about heart surgery but nothing i urgently loved
47.5. is it just me or is everything shit by steve lowe - not very funny, stopped in the middle
48. water for elephants by sara gruen - not terrible, but certainly not as good as everyone makes it out to be.
49. Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx by adrian nicole leblanc - pretty compelling nonfiction but maybe could have used a little more analysis
50. strange piece of paradise by terri jentz - always sad when a book about the author's own attempted murder is still not that interesting
51. goldengrove by francine prose - really well-crafted coming of age that made me angry but i can't say why without spoiling
52. have you no shame by rachel shukert - great essays. what i was told there'd be cake wanted to be.
53. If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister's Story of Love, Murder, and Liberation by janine latus - different than i thought it would be but interesting story of two sisters who were both battered women
54. more than it hurts you by darin strauss - good, in the same vein as the condition
55. A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure, and Passion Inside One of America's Best High Schools by alec klein - really great if you went to my high school
55.5 the color of lightning by paulette jiles - enemy women should have told me i don't like her civil war stuff
55.6 Do Cats Hear With Their Feet?: Where Cats Come From, What We Know About Them, and What They Think About Us by jake page - boring.
56. Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by steve almond - again, love his essays
57. when will there be good news by kate atkinson - another good literary thriller

yup, reading this over, my favorite book i read this year was DEFINITELY in the woods. the most beautiful writing and the most compelling story.

here are the 50 movies i saw in 2008. ** indicate that i liked it/would see it again/ didn't feel like i wasted two hours of my life. **** means i really loved it.

one missed call
cloverfield**
teeth
untraceable (on dvd)
step up 2 the streets****
be kind rewind**
the other boleyn girl**
paranoid park****
stop loss**
the ruins**
young @ heart****
prom night**
forgetting sarah marshall**
baby mama**
harold & kumar escape from guantanamo bay**
then she found me**
iron man**
indiana jones
sex and the city****
the strangers**
savage grace (on ondemand)
the happening
wanted**
hancock**
the wackness****
the dark knight**
mamma mia (half of it on dvd)
american teen**
pineapple express**
sisterhood of the traveling pants 2****
what we do is secret
mirrors
hamlet 2****
burn after reading****
the women
choke****
nick & norah's infinite playlist****
rachel getting married****
quarantine**
pride & glory**
saw V**
the haunting of molly hartley
zack and miri make a porno****
quantum of solace**
twilight****
milk**
doubt
yes man****
the wrestler**
revolutionary road (seeing tomorrow with allison)

so, it's time for my first gyno appt after my horrible traumatizing experience at the end of june. unfortunately, the person i was planning to go to (kat's gyno) doesn't take my insurance, so here i am, seeking recommendations again. women only, please.

a total nothing day today turned into a big one. slept late (till 10, which is late for me), jon and i went out to feed oliver (joe's cat) with amorphous plans to get food and maybe see a movie, though we hadn't decided which one (between the reader, curious case of benjamin button, and revolutionary road). on the way out of joe's house, jon asked if i wanted to go to ikea to get a TV stand, and we ended up taking the bus there. it turned out to be a good idea since as we hit the first section of stuff we ran into bob and ann marie who had also just gotten there. i think being with friends helped me and jon make decisions and not endlessly go back and forth and we ended up buying a new couch and a new TV stand and a cabinet/drawer thing for jon's prints. we got same night delivery and went off to dumont with bob and ann marie where i had the best mac n cheese ever and then we came over and got our stuff.

jon heroically put the tv stand together and in exchange i went out and bought him a six-pack. we left the cabinet for tomorrow but i'm sitting on the new couch and it's amazing. our apartment looks much more grown up right now. and since it's leather, cat hair is not going to be nearly as much of a problem. and it was only $400! we also bought a seahorse lamp and ice cube trays in the shape of puzzle pieces. pretty psyched.

unfortunately, after finally fixing our on demand last night, our cable is now out. jon is making me watch taped episodes of this terrible show on spike called MANswers.

i'm feeling kinda down today and i'm not sure why. maybe last day before vacation blues or something. i don't feel like doing any of my work; i just want to be out of here. i don't even feel like answering my own emails or posting to whiskers. ugh.

because of my sister's school schedule, we will be having our joint family birthday dinner the weekend of jan 3/4. my parents wanted to go to tavern on the green, but i pointed out that it might be nice to let the people whose birthdays it will be choose the restaurant. my sister has stated that she would like:

any type of south american, spanish/french/italian, and american if it sounded untraditional

either brooklyn or manhattan (but if in manhattan, preferably not above 23rd st). entrees in the $12-$24 range (ie pasta should be around $14ish, but a steak could be $24ish). any suggestions? i would like to go someplace i have never been to before.

edited to add: in reading the comments i realize there is another requirement with my family. my dad is not a skinny man and not in the best of health, so no place too cramped or where you would have to wait for more than 15 minutes on a saturday night at 6 pm (but having to make a reservation is ok).

Dear Erica,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to consider your book, but I'm sorry to say that I don't feel strongly enough about this project to offer representation. I like your writing style, but the story was too quiet for me. In this current, ridiculous, market I'm looking for more high concept novels.

Good luck in your search for an agent and publisher.

Best,
[mark's friend]

also, what is not annoying me

i wrote 12 pages tonight. i rule. now i get to watch tv.

jon just called me from toronto. the coworker he's sharing a hotel room with went on their trip even though he was sick and just found out he has strep throat. jon is freaking out.

i still can't get over how nice it is to have heat.

sickness update: went to bed at 1. fell asleep at 2ish. woke up an hour later for more orange juice and to see if we had any tylenol pm (we don't). went back to bed. slept an hour. woke up at 5 for more orange juice, took my temperature. 99.5. gave in and took regular target brand imitation tylenol. fell asleep at 6. woke up a little bit ago. temp back to 98.6, but i'm a little achey and my stomach feels weird.

i'm having a hard time allowing myself not to work out this morning. now that it is cold and i am not doing as much walking around i am even more crazed about getting in my three times a week. i have also made a pact with myself that any weekend day where i have no plans has to be a day of working out, unless i just worked out the night before. but i logically know that i should not work out right now. but the problem is not beating myself up for it.

i'm also just relieved that i feel ok enough to write today and go to the supermarket for more orange juice. jo n is in toronto for work otherwise i could obviously just send him. i still have 1.67 on my starbucks gift card so i'll prob go back there and get some apple cider, lest the gift card just languish in my wallet forever like the target gift card i have with $7 on it and the barnes & noble card i've had for a year and a half.

oh god, i feel like crap. at dinner i felt my throat start to get scratchy and then i got achy during the movie and now i'm pretty sure i'm going to wake up tomorrow with the flu. but i will say one thing:

twilight was amazing.

i have to read the books now.

1. i wrote ten pages today.
2. i went to starbucks because i had a gift card.
3. then i found $20 on the floor.
4. i watched the lookout, which i had had from netflix for two months and which was awesome.
5. in an hour i am leaving to meet allison and ann marie for dinner and twilight.

dear livejournal shopping genie,

i want a new winter coat. right now i have three.

1) an old non-down turquoise-colored puffy coat, knee-length, from h&m. it is warm but really worn (five years old) and was only $35 to begin with.
2) a navy blue knee-length wool coat with a peter pan collar that i bought a little over two years ago at the barney's outlet for $180 (i think). i like it and it's nice but the peter pan collar means that my neck is always cold and in general i find wool coats to be not that warm.
3) a dark green short puffy jacket with a fake fur trimmed hood that i bought last february for $9.99 from forever 21. i love this one the most and it is moderately warm, but really short (even though i bought it in a size large and i am not a tall person).

that is a lot of background to say that i want a warm (maybe down? definitely not wool) coat that is not black or blue and is under $200. where should i look for such a thing?